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by Peggy Aycinena - Contributing EditorPosted anew every four weeks or so, the EDA WEEKLY delivers to its readers information concerning the latest happenings in the EDA industry, covering vendors, products, finances and new developments. Frequently, feature articles on selected public or private EDA companies are presented. Brought to you by EDACafe.com. If we miss a story or subject that you feel deserves to be included, or you just want to suggest a future topic, please contact us! Questions? Feedback? Click here. Thank you!

There’s lots going on at this busy time of year, particularly in the weeks running up to DAC in San Francisco. Not suprisingly, this edition of EDA Weekly is busy, as well.

Herein you’ll find some suggestions for a calendar at

DAC, how the

Balance of Power in EDA has shifted of late, how

Real

Intent is looking towards its next 10 years of business, how

Portland’s

ADi helps tech folks learn what they need to know, links to recent blogs about

open

source

EDA,

decoding the design flow, and the

EDA Town & Gown Twitter project. Of course, there’s also lots of news about money, people, and tools, as you would expect in June when DAC is in July. Of particular interest, the legendary standards bodies –

Accellera and

SPIRIT – are merging.

It’s pretty clear that engineering and electronic design are serious stuff and consume our lives at this time of the year. But just in case you still have a life outside of work, and hopefully you do, we’re going to start out on a somewhat lighter note.

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Bryant the Beer Guy & The Brews of San Francisco ….

Bryant the Beer Guy and I met on a plane. He was headed to the

American Craft Beer Fest in Boston to appear on a panel about, well, beer. During the course of our (dreadful, turbulence-afflicted) flight from SFO to BOS, he kept our minds off of our immanent death by telling me about beer.

That’s why, if you’re into beer and you’re coming to the

Design Automation Conference in The City in July, this is your lucky day. Because the following, highly exclusive info – courtesy of Bryant – is everything you’re going to need to know to track down the Best Brews in San Francisco, The True Epicenter of the American Craft Beer Movement. If you’re smart, you’ll print out the following, fold it up, put it in your wallet, and have it with you every day you’re in San Francisco.

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The Bars:

Tornado at Haight & Fillmore

– Tornado is a famed dive bar, but it’s a total institution in the Beer World with an amazingly diverse & cheap tap selection – 60 or more, in fact, but who’s counting?

Magnolia Brewpub at Haight & Masonic – The beer’s brewed in the tiny basement of this gastro-pub. Also, it’s a great place for dinner, including burgers, fish & chips, steamed mussels, and salads. It’s Californicated Irish’ish and a bustling place to hang out.

Thirsty Bear Brewpub on Howard – This one’s closest to Moscone Center (and DAC), and a famous venue for software developers everywhere. Bryant says to try the Vanilla Ale.

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The Stores:

City Beer Store on Folsom between 7th and 8th – You’ll find an amazing selection of the most ingenious brewers’ fruits from near and far. Beers can be taken away, or enjoyed in-house. Owners Craig & Beth will direct you to the right beer for any mood and/or thirst.

Whole Foods at 4th at Harrison – Although you’ll find less personal service at Whole Foods, the selection’s great.

Anchor – “Anchor Steam” – Arguably the pioneer of the American Craft Beer Movement, this is the first brew that is a true American-originated style, “California Common.” (read, “It’s not British, German, or Belgian!”) The temperature in San Francisco was cool enough that the folks at Anchor could use lager yeast and ferment the brew in the cool, nighttime temps they found right up on their own rooftop. (San Francisco)

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One last note from Bryant the Beer Guy – Don’t forget that both grapes and hops grow best in the very same climates. However, the financial reward of growing grapes for Northern California’s wine industry incented more vineyards be planted, pushing out the hop growers. Now, most American hops are grown in the cooler, slightly more northern climes of Oregon and Washington. Nonetheless, if you like beer, the brews you’ll find in San Francisco come July have enough character to satisfy every taste, mood and pocketbook.

Now that you know what and where to drink, it’s time to establish your plan for DAC itself.

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The 2009 Design Automation Conference …

This year’s extravaganza is really jam-packed. General Chair

Andrew Kahng (UC San Diego) and the entire

Executive Committee, not to mention everybody on

every committee, plus the hard-working folks at

MP Associates, are pulling out all the stops to get this Cable Car out of the barn on time and in tip-top shape. After studying the schedule for several hours – and it’s intense – here’s how I’ve constructed my schedule at DAC. Don’t forget in reading this, however, that the new User Track at DAC will be racing along in and around all of the events listed below.

Saturday, July 25

* Design Automation Summer School

Sunday, July 26

* Tutorials on UML and Multiprocessor Design, plus DFM&Y (events run all day)

* The Traditional Sunday Evening Welcome to DAC event, but only if you’re sure it’s actually happening. (Check local newspapers for listings.)